Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Image credits- VOA Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda Starting Friday, Chinese Coast Guard ships, accompanied by more than two hundred fishing vessels, entered disputed waters around the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea..... ( Read on )

Image credits- VOA Source- The Diplomat  Author- Shah Meer Perched atop rocky outcroppings on the shores of the Arabian Sea, with breathtaking views from a large promontory known locally as Koh-e-Batilis, sits the port of Gwadar, which also happens to be the epicenter of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). With this project, China plans to connect one of the most neglected of its western provinces, Xinjiang, with the port of Gwadar in Balochistan, Pakistan. It has announced an investment of $46 billion for the creation of CPEC, which includes energy, fiber optics and industry-based projects in Pakistan. China vows that the project will bring unprecedented economic development to both countries. CPEC is a very important part of China’s larger, ambitious “One Belt, One Road” plan (OBOR). OBOR is a grand strategy by which China aspires to stretch its economic reach over three continents – Asia, Europe, and Africa – while connecting them via maritime routes and ra

Chinese Long March Rocket ( Image credits- VOA) Source- The Diplomat Author- Dr. Namrata Goswami China’s space ambitions and goals are unique. Unlike the space rivalry between the United States and the former USSR, which was mostly about “who got where first” (prestige and status) as well as geopolitical rivalry, China’s space ambition is to harness the vast resources available in space to benefit and sustain its economic rise. When Sputnik burst into the skies on October 4, 1957, it took the United States by surprise. For one, the U.S. considered itself to be the leaders in science and technology; for another, the U.S believed that the USSR was a poor, peasant-based economy, incapable of cutting-edge space technology. Sputnik was a shocker as it showcased the Soviet Union’s high-end technology, skyrocketing its international prestige and aggravating U.S. fears that the USSR could now use rockets to transfer inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to space, from

K-9 Vajra ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / 권순삼, 국방시민연대 (Defense Citizen Network) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz-Stefan Gady India has moved a step closer in acquiring 100 new K-9 Vajra 155 mm/52 caliber self-propelled tracked howitzers for the Indian Army. A contract between the Indian Ministry of Defense and the howitzer’s maker, South Korea’s Samsung-Techwin  (and its local Indian private-sector partner Larsen & Toubro (L&T), is expected to be signed within the next two months, an Indian defense official told Defense News. The defense ministry and L&T have completed price negotiations at the beginning of July. The $750 million deal, however, has not yet been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), a government body headed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The CCS’s approval is a prerequisite before the signing of any defense deal. IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly reported in early July that the contract is likely to be cleared by the C

Brahmos Cruise Missile ( Image credits- Reuters / VOA) Source- The Diplomat Author- Saurav Jha Long among the world’s top importers of weapons, India now wants to turn its military related trade into a two-way affair by enhancing defense exports from its soil. This new emphasis on exporting military wares has yielded early results with Indian defense exports doubling over the course of the past year to about $330 million. India’s defense minister Manohar Parrikar, however, has set his sights higher and wants annual military exports to touch $2 billion in a couple of years. While the initial growth in sales has been driven by exports of military stores due to the removal of excessive controls, reaching Parrikar’s target would require Indian diplomacy to re-orient itself toward securing weapons contracts for major indigenously-developed systems under the aegis of the government’s “Strategy for Defense Exports” (SDE). SDE, which is overseen by the Department of Defense Prod

Agni-5 ICBM ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons ) Source- The Diplomat Author- Francis P. Sempa  On June 22, 2016, the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute released a 60-page monograph analyzing the major trends in India’s nuclear posture and thinking in the increasingly challenging geopolitical environment of the Indo-Pacific region. India’s Evolving Nuclear Force and its Implications for U.S. Strategy in the Asia-Pacific is the work of three scholars who have written widely on India and Asia security topics: Yogesh Joshi, a PhD candidate at the Jawaharlal Nehru University whose work has appeared in Asia Policy and India Review; Frank O’Donnell, a lecturer in strategic studies at the University of Plymouth at Britannia Royal Naval College; and Harsh V. Pant, a professor of international relations at the India Institute at King’s College, London. Their work is a timely and important reminder that recent events in the East and South China Seas, which domi

PLAAF J-10 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Ratxham) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz-Stafan Gady China’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) has accused Japan of aggressive behavior in the East China Sea, claiming that Japanese “provocations” nearly resulted in a dogfight between aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF), according to a statement published on the Chinese MOD website. The Chinese claims came a week after Japanese media reported that a Chinese warplane was close to firing at a JASDF aircraft in the East China Sea—an incident that was immediately denied by Koichi Hagiuda, the deputy chief Cabinet secretary and an aide to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Hagiuda said that the Chinese aircraft did not make “an attack motion” against JASDF fighter jets. This did not stop a Chinese MOD spokesperson from characterizing the Japanese media report as “distorting facts by calling white black a

PLAN Frigate ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Stekruebe) Source- The Diplomat Author- Steven Stashwick Early last Thursday morning, a Chinese Jiangkai I frigate entered waters near the disputed Japanese Senkaku islands, called the Diaoyu by China. The move sparked an immediate response from the Japanese government, which summoned the Chinese ambassador at 2 am to lodge a protest. When the islands were nationalized by Japan in 2012, incursions by Chinese ships and aircraft increased dramatically, from practically zero to sometimes several per day. This most recent incursion was unique because it was the first time China has used a naval vessel instead of a Coast Guard or other state ship to venture near the islands. One senior Japanese defense official said the warship’s presence meant “the level of crisis has gone up one notch.” However, both the frigate’s route and Japan’s response may actually have confirmed that Japan really has the upper hand in the Senkaku di

President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe ( Source- Wikimedia commons / USAF) Source- The Diplomat Author- David Volodzko “Let me be a Hitler tenfold,” President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe said in March 2003 to opponents of his racist campaign against whites. The opposition party led a national strike that week, and Mugabe set the dogs on them. Patricia Mukonda, a opposition secretary, said they broke into her home, beat her, raped her with a baton, and forced her six-year-old son to watch. The United States condemned the attacks, saying they were “directly attributable” to Mugabe’s Hitler remarks, and froze the assets of 77 Zimbabwean officials, including Mugabe, while also working to get food supplies to Zimbabwe’s people. Less than a year later, Fu Ziying, China’s deputy commerce minister, signed an agreement strengthening trade relations between China and Zimbabwe. After meeting with Mugabe, Fu said, “It’s apparent that his Excellency has been very good.” Mugabe’s